
Roland Winters
Actor · 1904 – 1989 · Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Roland Winters (born Roland Winternitz) was an American actor who played many character parts in films and television but today is best remembered for portraying Charlie Chan in six films in the late 1940s. Monogram Pictures eventually selected Winters to replace Sidney Toler in the Charlie Chan film series. Winters was 44 when he made the first of his six Chan films, The Chinese Ring in 1947 and ending with Charlie Chan and the Sky Dragon (also known as Sky Dragon) in 1949. His other Chan films were "Docks of New Orleans", "Shanghai Chest", "The Golden Eye" and "The Feathered Serpent". He also had character roles in three other feature films while he worked on the Chan series. Yunte Huang, in Charlie Chan: The Untold Story of the Honorable Detective and His Rendezvous with American History, noted differences in the actors' appearances, especially that Winters' "tall nose simply could not be made to look Chinese." Huang also cited the actor's age, writing, "at the age of forty-four, he also looked too young to resemble a seasoned Chinese sage." In contrast to Huang, Ken Hanke wrote in his book, Charlie Chan at the Movies: History, Filmography, and Criticism, "Roland Winters has never received his due ... Winters brought with him a badly needed breath of fresh air to the series." He cited "the richness of the approach and the verve with which the series was being tackled" during the Winters era." Similarly, Howard M. Berlin, in his book, Charlie Chan's Words of Wisdom, commented that "Winters brought a much needed breath of fresh air to the flagging film series with his self-mocking, semi-satirical interpretation of Charlie, which is very close to the Charlie Chan in Biggers' novels." After the series finished, Winters continued to work in film and television until 1982. He was in the movies So Big and Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff, played Elvis' father in Blue Hawaii and a judge in the Elvis film Follow That Dream. He made appearances as the boss on the early TV series Meet Millie as the boss and the courtroom drama Perry Mason. In one episode of the Bewitched TV series, he played the normally unseen McMann of McMann and Tate. He also portrayed Mr. Gimbel in Miracle on 34th Street in 1973.
Movies24
Movie8.0MysteryDramaNewspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane is taken from his mother as a boy and made the ward of a rich industrialist. As a result, every well-meaning, tyrannical or self-destructive move he makes for the rest of his life appears in some way to be a reaction to that deeply wounding event.
Citizen Kane
1941 · 6.2K votes
Movie6.7CrimeDramaPetty crook and cop-killer Martin Rome, in bad shape from wounds in the hospital prison ward, still refuses to help slimy lawyer Niles clear his client by confessing to another crime. Police Lt. Candella must check Niles' allegation; a friend of the Rome family, he walks a tightrope between sentiment and cynicism. When Martin fears Candella will implicate his girlfriend Teena, he'll do anything to protect her. How many others will he drag down to disaster with him?
Cry of the City
1948 · 75 votes
Movie6.1MusicComedyJust discharged GI Chad Gates returns to Hawaii, where he becomes a tour guide, defying his mother's wishes for him to join the family business.
Blue Hawaii
1961 · 158 votes
Movie7.2DramaA friendly, successful suburban teacher and father grows dangerously addicted to cortisone, resulting in his transformation into a household despot.
Bigger Than Life
1956 · 188 votes
Movie6.1ComedyWhen the Kwimper family car runs out of fuel on a new Florida highway and an officious state supervisor tries to run them off, Pop digs in his heels and decides to do a little homesteading. He, his son Toby and their 'adopted' children—Holly, Ariadne, and the twins—start their own little community along a strip of the roadside.
Follow That Dream
1962 · 48 votes
Movie5.5ActionAdventureU.S. Air Force aviator Jim Shannon is tasked with escorting a Soviet pilot claiming -- at the height of the Cold War -- that she wants to defect. After falling in love with and marrying her, Shannon learns from his superiors that she's a spy on a mission to extract military secrets. To save his new wife from prison and deportation, Shannon devises a risky plan.
Jet Pilot
1957 · 50 votes
Movie6.5ActionRomanceMike Brannon is a former war hero turned midget car racer. His ruthless racing tactics have made him successful but the fans consider him a villain and boo him mercilessly. Independent, beautiful reporter Regina Forbes tries to interview him but is put off by his gruff chauvinism, and when Brannon's daredevil tactics cause the death of a fellow driver, he finds himself a pariah in the sport thanks to her articles. When she finds him earning money as a barnstorming daredevil driver hoping for a comeback, they begin to become mutually attracted.
To Please a Lady
1950 · 14 votes
Movie6.2CrimeDramaA prison warden fights to prove one of his inmates was wrongly convicted.
Convicted
1950 · 33 votes
Movie6.6ComedyHorrorLost Caverns Resort Hotel bellhop Freddie Phillips gives an empty threat to one attorney Amos Strickland, and is shortly fired. When Freddie visits his guest's suite to apologize, he finds Strickland dead of a gunshot wound. As the investigators file in, Freddie becomes the scapegoat of the guests in the hotel, who all had a bone to pick with Strickland. It's now up to Freddie and Detective Casey Edwards to find out who the real killer is, all the while avoiding the many vigorous and violent villains staying at the resort.
Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff
1949 · 60 votes
Movie5.7CrimeRocky and Dan, war buddies, are prowl car cops on night duty. Dan is a cynic who views all lawbreakers as scum; Rocky feels more lenient. Both are attracted to the radio voice of communicator Kate Mallory; but in person, Kate proves reluctant to get involved with men who just might stop a bullet. By lucky chance, Rocky and Dan cause big trouble for murderous racketeer Ritchie Garris; but when he swears vengeance, Kate's fears may prove justified.
Between Midnight and Dawn
1950 · 30 votes
Movie7.0DramaFamilyA department store Santa tries to convince a little girl who doesn't believe in Santa Claus that he is Santa Claus, and winds up going on trial to prove who he is.
Miracle on 34th Street
1973 · 13 votes
Movie5.8MysteryThrillerNear the end of World War II, a secret American raid on an enemy transportation hub goes very wrong when a turncoat warns the enemy. Led by Capt. Webster Carey, the mission causes the deaths of many bystanders -- among them, Carey believes, his Italian girlfriend, Giulia de Graffi. Back home, Carey stumbles across evidence that might uncover the identity of the informant. But, when he returns to Italy to get even, Carey is stunned by what he finds.
Captain Carey, U.S.A.
1950 · 18 votes
Movie6.9WarAdventureSoon after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, cynical former newspaper correspondent John Royer devises a scheme with his old editor and government agents to return to the Far East and smuggle out a vast amount of rubber for the war effort. Demanding the freedom and company of his ex-friend, Carnahan, whom he betrayed in an exposé years earlier, Royer sails off into the hands of the Japanese with a motley crew, gold, and the promise of covert government aid.
Malaya
1949 · 17 votes
Movie5.4ComedyMusicShapely burlesque dancer Hot Garters Gertie aka Angela Gardner meets her future drama professor. Her new landlady proves to be the professor's wife. Angela helps breath life into the annual school stage show...but someone has discovered her secret past.
She's Working Her Way Through College
1952 · 8 votes
Movie8.0DramaTV MovieAn ordinary girl's life is radically changed by the mistaken receipt of a $60,000 strand of pearls.
A String of Beads
1961 · 1 votes
Movie6.0DramaRomanceBrooks Wilson is in crisis. He is torn between his wife Selma and two daughters and his mistress Grace, and also between his career as a successful illustrator and his feeling that he might still produce something worthwhile.
Loving
1970 · 19 votes
Movie6.3ComedyDramaWealthy hotshot Cash McCall makes his money by purchasing unsuccessful businesses, whipping them into shape and then selling them for a huge profit. When Cash comes across Austen Plastics, a small manufacturing corporation on its last legs, he realizes it might be a gamble to buy the company. But when Cash finds out that the company's owner is the father of his old flame, Lory, he buys the business just to get a second chance at romance.
Cash McCall
1960 · 15 votes
Movie5.7CrimeDramaA cop-turned-bail bondsman gets involved in a murder investigation involving a former flame.
A Dangerous Profession
1949 · 16 votes
Movie6.4ComedyA wholesome girl believes her new racehorse, October, is the reincarnation of her favorite uncle, Willie.
The Return of October
1948 · 7 votes
Movie8.2DramaDirector Charles Lederer's 1959 musical stars James Cagney as an unscrupulous longshoreman who'll resort to every dirty trick in the book to win his union's presidency.
Never Steal Anything Small
1959 · 5 votes
Movie6.1ThrillerComedyDetective Charlie Chan springs into action when top officials of a New Orleans chemical company begin dropping like flies.
Docks of New Orleans
1948 · 7 votes
Movie6.5ComedyAn actor is recalled to active duty with the Army's C.I.D. to find the thief who stole historical jewels in occupied Germany and the trail leads to the boyfriend of a young debutante from Bel Air.
Once More, My Darling
1949 · 4 votes
Movie4.9ComedyA publisher uses her magazine and charm to derail a general on the Washington fast track.
Top Secret Affair
1957 · 7 votes
Movie8.0AdventureComedyAll the passengers on an airplane headed for San Francisco are drugged, and when they wake up, it is discovered that a quarter-million dollars is missing. Charlie Chan--and, of course, his #1 son--must discover the identity of the person who doped the passengers and stole the money.
Sky Dragon
1949 · 4 votes
Series17
TV7.7MysteryDramaThe cases of master criminal defense attorney Perry Mason and his staff who handled the most difficult of cases in the aid of the innocent.
Perry Mason
1957 · 139 votes
TV7.9CrimeMysteryA continuation of the anthology series “Alfred Hitchcock Presents”, hosted by the master of suspense and featuring thrillers and mysteries.
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
1962 · 85 votes
TV7.8Sci-Fi & FantasyComedySamantha Stephens is a seemingly normal suburban housewife who also happens to be a genuine witch, with all the requisite magical powers. Her husband Darrin insists that Samantha keep her witchcraft under wraps, but situations invariably require her to indulge her powers while keeping her bothersome mother Endora at bay.
Bewitched
1964 · 764 votes
TV6.3DramaThe Defenders is an American courtroom drama series . It starred E. G. Marshall and Robert Reed as father-and-son defense attorneys who specialized in legally complex cases, with defendants such as neo-Nazis, conscientious objectors, civil rights demonstrators, a schoolteacher fired for being an atheist, an author accused of pornography, and a physician charged in a mercy killing.
The Defenders
1961 · 11 votes
TV7.1ComedyThe Lucy Show is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from 1962–68. It was Lucille Ball's follow-up to I Love Lucy. A significant change in cast and premise for the 1965–66 season divides the program into two distinct eras; aside from Ball, only Gale Gordon, who joined the program for its second season, remained. For the first three seasons, Vivian Vance was the co-star. The earliest scripts were entitled The Lucille Ball Show, but when this title was declined, producers thought of calling the show This Is Lucy or The New Adventures of Lucy, before deciding on the title The Lucy Show. Ball won consecutive Emmy Awards as Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for the series' final two seasons, 1966–67 and 1967–68.
The Lucy Show
1962 · 53 votes
TV7.7ComedyFamilyThe Carol Burnett Show is an American variety/sketch comedy television show starring Carol Burnett, Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence, Lyle Waggoner, and Tim Conway. It originally ran on CBS from September 11, 1967, to March 29, 1978, for 278 episodes and originated from CBS Television City's Studio 33. The series won 25 prime time Emmy Awards, was ranked No. 16 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time in 2002 and in 2007 was listed as one of Time magazine's "100 Best TV Shows of All Time."
The Carol Burnett Show
1967 · 74 votes
TV7.1ComedyFamilyGomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. is an American situation comedy that originally aired on CBS from September 25, 1964, to May 2, 1969. The series was a spinoff of The Andy Griffith Show, and the pilot was aired as the finale of the fourth season of The Andy Griffith Show on May 18, 1964. The show ran for five seasons and a total of 150 episodes. In 2006, CBS Home Entertainment began releasing the series on DVD. The final season was released in November 2008. The series was created by Aaron Ruben, who also produced the show with Sheldon Leonard and Ronald Jacobs. Filmed and set in California, it stars Jim Nabors as Gomer Pyle, a naive but good-natured gas-station attendant from the town of Mayberry, North Carolina, who enlists in the United States Marine Corps. Frank Sutton plays Gomer's high-octane, short-fused Gunnery Sergeant Vince Carter, and Ronnie Schell plays Gomer's friend Gilbert "Duke" Slater. Allan Melvin played in the recurring role of Gunnery Sergeant Carter's rival, Sergeant Charley Hacker. The series never discussed nor addressed the then-current Vietnam War, instead focusing on the relationship between Gomer and Sergeant Carter. The show retained high ratings throughout its run.
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
1964 · 35 votes
TV8.0ComedyFamilyA satirical inversion of the ideal of the perfect American nuclear family, they are an eccentric wealthy family who delight in everything grotesque and macabre, and are never really aware that people find them bizarre or frightening. In fact, they themselves are often terrified by "normal" people.
The Addams Family
1964 · 457 votes
TV7.8DramaKraft Television Theater is an American, well-received anthology series presenting live television dramas.
Kraft Television Theatre
1947 · 5 votes
TV7.8ComedyLaugh along with funnyman Jack Benny as he brings his underplayed humor to TV along with regular performers from his radio show days.
The Jack Benny Program
1950 · 17 votes
TV6.8ComedyDramaStartime, an anthology of drama, comedy and variety, was one of the first American television shows broadcast in color.
Startime
1959 · 4 votes
TV8.0ComedyDramaThis syndicated anthology series staged a different play every week covering all genres, dramas, comedies, musicals, fantasies, mysteries, et al, utilizing some of the best talent appearing on Broadway.
Play of the Week
1959 · 1 votes
- TV6.7DramaComedy
Lux Video Theatre is an American anthology series that was produced from 1950 until 1959. The series presented both comedy and drama in original teleplays, as well as abridged adaptations of films and plays.
Lux Video Theatre
1950 · 7 votes
- TV6.5Western
Broken Arrow is a Western series which ran on ABC-TV in prime time from 1956 through 1958 on Tuesdays at 9 p.m. Eastern time. Repeat episodes were shown by ABC on Sunday afternoons during the 1959–60 season. Selected repeats were then shown once again in prime time during the summer of 1960.
Broken Arrow
1956 · 6 votes
TV7.5ComedyAdam's Rib is an American situation comedy broadcast on ABC-TV from September 14 to December 28, 1973. It was produced by MGM Television and had 13 episodes. The series was a TV adaptation of the 1949 motion picture of the same name.
Adam's Rib
1973 · 2 votes
TV6.7MysteryCrimeHard-boiled private detective Hamilton Nash investigates a supposed family curse linked to stolen diamonds, which unravels into a complex mystery involving murder, drugs, and a cult.
The Dain Curse
1978 · 6 votes
TVDramaTheodore Hickman, a hardware salesman, makes by-yearly visits to Harry Hope's 1910-era waterfront bar for his periodical drinking binges. But on this visit he has decided to try to save the bar's patrons from their "lying pipe dreams."